


How to Train a Private Investigator

by wordspillingrose



Category: The Good Fight (TV), The Good Wife (TV)
Genre: AU where Kalinda Sharma is the annoyed adult in the room because Marissa wants to become a PI, Humor, Legal Drama, Light Angst, Not Beta Read, Some OC's - Freeform, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-09-23 12:23:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20340064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordspillingrose/pseuds/wordspillingrose
Summary: Kalinda Sharma never lost a thought on the possibility of having a trainee. Until one day, Marissa Gold decided to leave her spot behind the desk which was placed in the front of Diane Lockharts office, determined to replace the peaceful, but sometimes lonesome silence surrounding Kalindas investigations for the firm with a never ending flood of speech, laughter and unexpected insights.





	1. Lesson 0: Don't Trouble or Importune People - Unless it's the In-house PI

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Silverinia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverinia/gifts).

> For @silverinia, because she never fails to provide me with exquisite McHart angst.❤
> 
> I'm a mess, I don't know what I'm doing and this is not beta read, so please forgive me my mistakes.
> 
> I neither own the characters nor is the idea mine. Credits to the Kings and (again) silverinia.

If one is not acquainted with Kalinda Sharma, one wouldn’t guess she had had a troubled life. Even people that do know her are only aware of tiny fragments considering her past. But if one would approach her about the fact that she keeps her private life a secret, she’d look surprised. It’s not something she did on purpose.

If one would ask Kalinda now, after working at Lockhart & Gardner for some years, making new friends and losing them again, being aware of the darker side of the firm, the little secrets the partners keep from each other, finding support and giving it back, gaining knowledge of true loyalty, having witnessed the up and downs of working as an private investigator for a successful law firm, how she felt about her life, she’d need some time to think. Because she had never been a person that mused about the future or the past after work, at home, a glass of wine in hand. She lived for the present, supressed memories so successfully that they hit her like a train at the rare occasions she had to deal with them, and her mind never wandered further than some days ahead. However, if Kalinda Sharma would realise that she had feelings that last longer than a few hours, and would try to sort them out and define them, she’d say she is satisfied with her life. Maybe, to even go another step, she’d have to admit that, for the first time in years, she was happy.

Marissa Gold was one of the new employees at the firm after Alicia Florrick left and Will Gardner decided he would fight until his firm was on the very top. Shortly afterwards, his partner Diane Lockhart joined the battle as a result of losing her Supreme Court Judgeship. The daughter of Eli Gold was, despite her very confident self, surprised that she got the job at the law firm after her father had broken his promises towards the female name partner. Being the personal assistant of Ms. Lockhart appeased her enough to keep the job, yet, after some weeks had passed, she took more interest in the work of the private investigator of the firm than in her own tasks. Despite earning knowing looks from both of the name partners and the assistant of Will Gardner whenever they catch her researching issues regarding Kalinda’s work, observing her and listening to conversations the PI conducted, up to now she didn’t find the courage to approach the older woman about her interest. As she was keen to not lose another employment to her cheeky remarks, she was careful about voicing her opinion on matters outside of her competence. Kalinda overlooking the obvious fact that Marissa would find delight in being involved in an investigation didn’t help, either. And so the young Gold stayed behind her desk for some more weeks, indulging in the firms researches, and the possibility to sometime be a part of it, from afar.

*****

Kalinda slipped into the office through one of the side entrances, not caring to knock as she knew that Diane was in court that day.

The name partner had asked her to do some research on a private matter some days ago and had instructed her to leave the files at her desk when they had met earlier to briefly discuss the ongoing case.

A barely-there smile formed on Kalinda’s dark shaded lips when she placed her report on the perfectly cleared up table. Diane Lockhart had always been zealous to keep her things in order, and no matter how much paperwork had been spread out around her, at the end of the day, or whenever she left the office, everything was at its assigned spot. Kalinda’s gaze wandered across the room for some seconds, a habit she had developed throughout the years working as an investigator, before she left the office through the front door. She nodded at the two personal assistants in front of the partners offices, receiving a broad smile from Marissa Gold as an answer, and was about to round the corner when Will Gardner called her into his office. When she turned around, she caught Eli Gold’s daughter eyeing her curiously, her gaze following her when she walked into the glass chambers and closed the transparent door behind her. Kalinda suppressed the urge to peer back, instead she looked at her boss questioningly.

“Are you free at the moment?”, Will asked without glancing up from the paperwork with which his desk was loaded.

“Sure”, she stated. “What do you need?”

She didn’t receive an answer instantly, so she had enough time to study her opposite briefly. He looked stressed, even drained, small wrinkles scattered across his forehead from frowning constantly, the skin under his hazel eyes was shaded and a slight bit too pale altogether. Kalinda suspected he was going through something other than work related troubles. She’d even bet she _knew_ what the problem was. Or rather who. Still, after short consideration, she decided against approaching him about his issues. It was not the right time.

“Kalinda, I need you to look into something.”, Will interrupted her train of thought. “It’s urgent”, he added when she nodded.

The PI fished out her orange notebook from the inside of her black leather jacket and looked at him expectantly.

“We took in some new clients during the past weeks, and I need some of their backgrounds checked more carefully. I have to admit I didn’t care enough about their morals when I accepted them, or their past, and especially why they left their former law firm. Don’t ever tell Diane, but I really don’t need a second Jeffrey Spellman to happen.”

Kalinda’s brows shot up at his words, quickly remembering the threats against Diane years ago, and right after wondering how much Will knew about some of the most fearful days in his partners life. She recalled how hurt he was when he, much later when their relationship had improved, found out about the difficulties Diane had to face during that time, not trusting him enough then to confide in him.

Once again Kalinda decided to stay silent, waiting if Will had something else to say, but it seemed he was not willing to wallow in painful memories or talk about other concerns that involve emotions. Wordlessly he handed her a list with a handful of names which she took, folded and tucked it between the pages of her notebook. When she faced him again, he had gone back to study the piles in front of him, and his exhausted features triggered a queasy feeling in her stomach.

“You know, Will, if you want to talk about what happened…”, Kalinda tried, interrupting herself because she realized she was not able to find the right words.

“I appreciate it, Kalinda, but I don’t want to think about it right now.”

She nodded and turned around, about to leave his office when she heard his voice again.

“I can’t.” he corrected himself, barely audible, then shaking his head, an idea of his trademark smirk cast on his face.

“No problem. I’m here.”, the PI assured him with an understanding smile, to then rush out of the room.

In the corner of her eye, Kalinda noticed Marissa peeking into Diane’s office, and when she found it still empty, the Gold offspring chased after her. After some seconds she caught up, but didn’t lose a word.

“Where are you heading to?”, the investigator finally broke the silence, not slowing down until she reached the elevator.

“Depends”, Marissa answered shortly, aware of the tense mood.

“On?”

Kalinda pressed the button, and as the doors of the elevator opened, she hurried inside, expecting Marissa to stay behind, her question already forgotten.

“On where you are going”, the younger woman responded eventually and came to a stand right beside the investigator who was at loss of a reaction other than opening her mouth slightly, to then sigh out of resignation. If she was honest to herself, she had always known that one day, inevitably, she’ll have to take Marissa with her to satisfy her curiosity.

“Fine, you can come with me.”


	2. Lesson 1: Be Persistent, Creative - And Use Your Smile

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some OC's will be mentioned or even show up during the next chapters, but apart from them I still own nothing.
> 
> I finished working at my summer job on friday and got more time now, so I hope it won't be too long until I can publish the next chapter. Enjoy!

Eyeing the closed doors of the elevator, Kalinda tried to adapt to her new, at least for the rest of the day lasting, situation. She couldn’t say if she felt indifferent towards the presence of Marissa, annoyed on account of her insistence or a little impressed because of it. The investigator knew that the young woman was not made to sit behind a desk all day, typing out forms, letters and sorting out files. There was no adventure, nothing exciting tied to it, and although she did her job well, Kalinda guessed she would get herself fired in the foreseeable future if the conditions didn’t change. Still, she didn’t consider it her task to liberate the Gold daughter from her chores, and although the woman seemed to be invested already, without even leaving the building, Kalinda had no clue if she got the talent to be of help, let alone to become an investigator.

“So…”, Marissa started, waiting for a reaction, but Kalinda’s gaze didn’t shift. “Where are we going now?”

The investigator pulled out her notebook, flipped through it and handed over the page that Will had given her minutes ago. Marissa skimmed through the list of names, her brows furrowing more and more as she went on. Most of the names weren’t unfamiliar to her, she had seen them in case files and retainer agreements of her boss.

“What’s wrong with them?”, she wanted to know, a note of concern in her voice.

The doors of the elevator opened and Kalinda stepped out, her movements as fast as they had been in the office, but she looked back for a second to make sure the younger woman was following her.

“There is nothing wrong with them”, she responded.

“But?”

“Will asked me to find out their motivation to choose LG as their legal representative.”

“Couldn’t it be because we work at one of the best law firms in town?”, Marissa suggested with a smile.

The two woman left the building, being welcomed with the famous chilly Chicago wind, messing up Marissa’s long dark hair, erasing the smirk from her features. Kalinda shot her a look and then shrugged, not sure herself if Will’s concerns were legitimate. She will find out, until then she had to stay impartial.

When they reached the office building of the first client on the list, it had begun to drizzle, the cloud cover blocking out the light, enshrouding the streets in greyish shades. Kalinda’s mood had suffered as a result of Marissa’s never ending questioning during the drive. It would have been easy to answer, but she was far from ready to share anything personal with her. It was high time that one of the Gold’s learned that it wasn’t natural to instantly obtain the information they wished to get, and that it occasionally was more suitable to just shut up.

“I’ll be the one talking”, Kalinda demanded when they left the elevator at a floor high above the streets of the business district. Marissa nodded and they approached the reception area, the investigator taking in every detail around her before she shot the receptionist a smile.

“Ryan Sutter, please.”

“Mr. Sutter is not available today”, the young man claimed.

“I’m from Lockhart Gardner, his law firm. It’s urgent. May I see his office?”, Kalinda asked, her voice softer than usual.

“I am not allowed to let anyone inside his offices during his absence.”

“When will he be back?”, she wanted to know, leaning slightly over the reception desk.

“Next week maybe”, he responded shortly, seemingly eager to get rid of the uninvited guests and get back to work.

“Listen”, Kalinda’s tone was still friendly, but she lowered her voice until she was nearly whispering. She could feel Marissa coming a bit closer to be able to follow the conversation. “I know you are afraid of irritating your supervisor. We are not here to cause any trouble, we just need to pick up some files from Mr. Sutter’s office. Her boss”, she gestures towards Marissa, who intuitively forces a sweet smile onto her face, “can get unbearable if information about one of her ongoing cases is missing.”

The receptionist shifted slightly on his seat, feeling evidently uncomfortable. His gaze drifted from Kalinda’s expectant look to Marissa and back to the investigator. After hesitating for some more seconds he finally nodded and stood up with a sigh.

“Follow me”, he said and led them through the adjoining office space until they came to a stand in front of a dull glass door which he opened with a key card that carried the logo of Sutter Insurance on it.

“Five minutes”, he set a time limit and went away, but not without glancing at them suspiciously once more.

Kalinda entered the room, Marissa following close behind her, leaving the door open only a crack. The PI went straight to the broad glass table that had its place in front of a huge window that stretched from one wall to the next. The other surfaces were either hidden behind file-loaded shelfs or modern paintings that both of the women considered quite hideous, but they were still aware of the wealth that was displayed in the office.

“What are we looking for?”, Marissa wanted to know, trying to keep her voice low without really knowing why. All the employees that they had passed before saw them entering the room.

“Not sure”, Kalinda murmured, “try to find a document where the cancellation of contract from his former law firm is recorded. Customarily a reason for the disbanding has to be stated there.”

The investigator continued flicking through the few pages that were scattered on the table while Marissa studied the titles of the folders that were organized alphabetically in the cupboard to find a clue in which one the wanted file could be possibly hidden. She tried to remember the name of the law firm, then pulled out the corresponding ring binder.

“Damn”, the PI cursed suddenly, looking up from the files and noticing a shadow approaching the glass door.

Marissa was about to open her mouth to ask what the problem was, the folder in her hands, when Kalinda hissed: “Just take it with you!”, and shoved her in the direction of the door.

“We were just about to leave”, Kalinda asserted when the door swung open, smiling at the receptionist whose expression changed from reproving to startled when they rushed out of the room and past him.

“Thanks for the help”, Marissa added, beaming him a little smile and waved with her free hand, clenching the binder in the other.

The doors of the elevator had hardly closed when Marissa laughed out loud, nearly dropping the folder, not minding Kalinda’s bewildered gaze. She inhaled deeply in an attempt to calm herself down, shaking her head simultaneously.

“You are _really_ good!”, the Gold daughter stated, her breath still a bit ragged.

“That smile? Use it”, the PI replied, an amused expression playing about her dark lips.

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews are very much appreciated!


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